Crept Upon
by Mrs. Phineas Nigellus
Summary: Lily is best friends with all the Marauders, and especially James. But what will she do when she starts to feel more than friendship for him when she doesn't want to wreck the friendship they so painstakingly built?ENTIRE STORY REVAMPED AS OF AUG 22, 07!
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: They're all JKR's so far...**

**A/N: I know this first chapter is really short, but it's just a prologue to what's going to be happening in later chapters. The real story begins in the next chapter. ENTIRE STORY REVISED AND REVAMPED AS OF AUGUST 22, 2007. THANKS TO EVERYONE FOR THEIR PATIENCE!  
**

**I know the notes seem kind of weird, but I originally had them all in different fonts on my pc, but you obviously can't do that here.**

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It was summertime. It had been almost a month since the end of her sixth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and Lily Evans still hadn't heard anything from her newfound friends. Ever since her first year, the four Marauders, James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter had not gotten along well with Lily. They called her a goody-goody, she called them hooligans. So, you can imagine her surprise when, after joining the only open study group that consisted wholly of the Marauders, she found them to be pretty decent guys. She supposed a lot could change in six years, which is why she gave them the benefit of the doubt. After several months of studying together (or Remus and Lily studying while James and Sirius goofed around and Peter watched), they had become good friends, which was something none of them could have ever predicted. 

Now, it had been a month since Lily'd had any contact with any of them, and she was afraid they had forgotten about her. She was sure they had gone off somewhere together and left her stranded in the Muggle world. This did not bode well with her; she wanted more than anything to leave her parents and sister behind, if only for a little while.

Lily was in her bedroom, stretched out across the purple and yellow checked bedspread her grandmother had given her for her birthday several years ago. On her right, she had a purple-painted dresser with a gold curtained window above it. Her walls were painted banana yellow and she had a white carpet beneath her bed.

Suddenly, a loud tap resonated from the window. Lily jumped. Sitting up, she saw an owl standing on the ledge. Confused, she let him in and sat back down on her bed. It wasn't time for the Hogwarts letters yet, but the large tawny owl was like those of the school.

The owl stuck out its leg and Lily took the letter off it. It then flew to her dresser to wait. Lily opened the piece of parchment that she was now holding. It had four different kinds of handwriting on it.

_Fellow Marauders and Lily…_

_I'm sorry I haven't been in touch in so long. Have been grounded. But now that I'm out, I'd love to have you guys over for regular "meetings" at 7:00—every night, if possible. We'll see._

_Write back below this and then send it to someone else._

_-James Potter (aka Prongs)_

oo

_I'll be there with bells on, mate._

_-Padfoot_

oo

_Uh, I'll try to come, but my mom kind of wants me home this summer. Wants to spend "family time". Help appreciated!!!_

_-Wormtail_

oo_  
_

_Consider me there, minus once a month._

_-Moony_

Lily was excited about getting together with the Marauders. She had never really had what you'd call "friends" and she was more than ready to meet the Marauders, especially if they liked her enough to invite her there. Knowing that her parents would neither know nor care, she wrote James back a note.

___Thanks, James!_

___I'd love to come! Where exactly do you live, anyway? I may not be able to come if it's too far away, because my being the only witch in the family, we aren't hooked up to the Floo Network, and I obviously can't Apparate yet. Any ideas?_

___-Signed Lily, because I don't have a cool nickname like all of the above._

_Lily tied the parchment back on the leg of the owl and told it, "Go back to James now."_

ooooo

A week later, James's response came in the form of another owl. This time, Lily was up to her elbows in dish soap when the tawny owl arrived outside the kitchen, unbeknownst to her. Looking back, Lily was sure that, in the Potter spirit, that owl had waited for her to pick up the biggest, soapiest dish before hooting sharply from its tree branch. She started, dropping the dish onto the tile floor and yelping as it smashed, suds scattering across the kitchen.

"Shoot!" she shouted, stomping over to open the window. The owl swooped in over her head and landed on the counter. Fuming, she muttered a quick, "Reparo," hoping that with Voldemort running wild the Ministry would have something better to do than persecute underage witches for repairing dishes. The owl looked up at her and gave her an innocent look, clearly saying, _You're not trying to blame that on little old me, are you?_

Lily shook her head and detached the small roll of parchment on its leg. Unfolding it, she read:

_Lily,_

_My father works at the Ministry and was able to get your house hooked up to the Floo Network for the summer. I enclosed a pouch of Floo Powder for you to use until you can get some at Diagon Alley. Meetings start tonight…I'm real glad you could come._

_-Prongs, who's going to get Lily a cool nickname if it kills him_

Lily giggled when she read his signature. She then unpinned the small leather pouch from the top of the letter and peeked inside to find a generous amount of Floo Powder, certainly enough to last her several meetings. As soon as she had re-closed the pouch, the owl took flight, leaving her standing in the middle of the kitchen amid a patch of soap suds.

"Wait!" Lily called, forgetting herself and soaking her socks in the puddle of water as she ran toward the departing bird. "Wait, I've—"

But it was too late. The owl reached the window and vanished into the afternoon sky before she could catch it. Standing alone in front of the opened window, she finished in a desperate sort of voice, "—never used Floo Powder."

This put her in a tough spot. She couldn't owl James back and tell him her problem because she didn't own an owl and the one that had delivered his message had already left. However, terrified as she was at using the Floo Powder, she wanted more than anything to be at the meeting that night. In the end, she decided to try the Floo Powder; she figured that even if she ended up in the wrong place, at least she would be in the home of a wizard that could hopefully point her in the right direction.

Having settled her plans for that evening, Lily slowly turned away from the fluttering blue jay her eyes had been absentmindedly following in the yard and onto the kitchen floor where the soap and water still sat. Sighing, she pulled off her dripping socks and went to fetch the mop. As she came back into the kitchen and scanned the sink of dirty dishes, the wet floor, and the leftovers still sitting on the table, she thought humorlessly that she would, at least, have something to keep her busy until she was supposed to leave that night. Silently, she promised to have a word with James when she saw him about that owl of his.

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**A/N: Next "real" chapter coming soon!**

**Also, a special thanks to tigerlily who pointed out I had said Lily Potter rather than Lily Evans at the beginning. I made the change. :)**


	2. The Rules of Marauding

**Disclaimer: JKR owns them all.**

**A/N: Geez, how long has it been since I updated? Sorry about that. This chapter was giving me an extremely difficult time. I like to let my chapters write themselves, but I had to force this one into existance, which I hate doing, and then I started procrastinating, and...well, you know how it goes. I really hated this chapter at first, but now that I'm done I really like all the humor and think it's quite funny. Enjoy! STORY REVISED AND REVAMPED AS OF AUGUST 22, 2007. THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR PATIENCE!  
**

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That evening at five minutes to seven, Lily stepped in front of the fire and prepared to leave. Taking a deep breath and bracing herself, she took a pinch of Floo Powder from the pouch and threw it into the flames.

The flames glowed emerald green, matching the color of Lily's eyes almost exactly, and she stuttered, "The Potter Place" into the grate. At once, she started twirling and swirling into the abyss. A small explosion sounded beneath her and in a burst of black, soot-filled smoke, she was suddenly lurched forward.

Lily landed hard on the floor. She vaguely heard a loud crash, a scuffling sound, and a distinct yelp from somewhere in the room. When the smoke cleared, Lily found herself in an antique parlor. Although she was in a small bare spot in front of the fireplace, the rest of the room was cluttered with all kinds of delicate-looking furniture rimmed in gold. Much of it was floral. As a whole it reminded her of her grandmother's house. Thinking she must have ended up in an old witch's house by mistake, she quickly stood up and turned around, facing where her back had been. She started.

Looking back at her were three of her four companions: Small and sandy-haired Remus was standing there looking rather amused; James, black hair as messy as always, seemed surprised; and Sirius was rolling on the floor, his handsome face alight in laughter. A moment later, Lily saw Peter peer his watery eyes out from behind the couch where he had taken cover. He stepped out, and with a terrified look on his face, squealed "Ash Monster!" and, pointing his wand at Lily, fired a bright yellow jet of light at her. James quickly dove in front of her and reflected the curse, causing it to rebound upon Peter. A second large crack sounded in the room and Peter was tossed through the air and landed behind the couch again. Surveying herself through the cursing that had erupted from across the room, Lily noticed that she was completely black from the soot. This, of course, only made Sirius laugh harder.

"Blimey, Evans, how did you manage that?" he asked between spurts of laughter.

"First time using Floo Powder," she mumbled.

James got to his feet and held his hand out to Lily, smiling. "If you come on over here I'll clean you up. My mother just taught me this handy little charm…"

Lily blushed and let James help her up. He began to lead her toward the doorway, but when they moved they stirred the dust and soot that had settled on the rug around Lily. Sirius, who was still out of control in laughter, breathed in a large amount and began to hack.

Remus pointed his wand at the black ring and it disappeared. "Cough it up, mate," he advised as he went over to thump Sirius on the back.

James led Lily into the hallway away from the fireplace and the other three. "Sorry, but Mum'll kill me if we get any more soot in the parlor—"

"Oh, no, that's fine…" said Lily, blushing again.

"Okay, so here now, lift up your arms and close your eyes—this stuff can be nasty."

Suspicious, Lily did as he said. Although James had improved in a lot of ways, she still wasn't sure he wouldn't try to pull something. But to her relief, before James had time to perform the charm, she heard the living room door open once again and Sirius, who was still clearing his throat, came out.

"Where's Moony?" James asked.

Sirius chuckled. "Still trying to coax Wormtail out from behind the sofa. I'd still like to know why the ruddy hell you _exploded_," he added, turning to Lily.

Lily opened her eyes to roll them at Sirius.

"Ask James. It's his bird that started this whole thing," she said, glaring at him.

"What? Are you talking about Alex? What happened?"

"He left. I tried to call him back to owl you that I couldn't Floo and he left," Lily explained flatly.

Another bout of laughter burst forth from Sirius.

"I knew there was a reason he and I got on so well," he said. Shaking his head, he walked off past Lily and disappeared into another room.

Lily's arms were beginning to get rather sore. "Er…James…are you going to--?"

"Oh! Sorry! _Scourgify!_"

The soot on her vanished.

"Thanks," Lily said, embarrassed.

"Oh, it's nothing, really," James replied. "Look, Lily, sorry about the Floo Powder thing, I thought you had--"

"Don't worry about it. You'll know for next time." Lily smiled and rolled her eyes again.

"I'll keep that in mind," James replied. "Why don't we go in and wait with Sirius? The others should be in in a minute."

He led Lily off down the hall and into the same room Sirius had gone at the end.

"Welcome," said James, "to my room."

Lily was impressed. The place was simply huge! It was a high-ceilinged room with floor to ceiling windows on each wall that Lily suspected had been magically altered to remain sunny. It was furnished much more casually than the parlor and yet the room was so blatantly magical there could be no mistaking it: many red velveteen sofas hovered inches from the floor, though none, Lily noticed, were trimmed gold or floral patterned; an enormous matching king-sized bed floated in the far right corner; in the far left sat a refrigerator and pantry. An ornate gold fireplace faced her between the windows on the opposite wall. Sirius was already stretched out across a small sofa to the right side of the room.

"It is something, isn't it?" he said, grinning at Lily's apparent shock. "Who knew Prongsy actually had style? Of course, he did have some help from yours truly." He winked.

James rolled his eyes, but looked slightly abashed all the same.

"Well, why don't you have a seat? Moony and Wormtail should be in soon…"

Lily followed James over and took a seat in an overstuffed chair that was surprisingly comfortable. It seemed to conform to Lily's body; she let herself sink into it.

At that moment, Remus appeared in the doorway and took a seat next to James on a couch by the chair Lily had chosen. After a short pause, Peter, too, appeared and, going rather red, scurried over to a second chair.

After a moment, he allowed himself to catch Lily's eye. Lily watched him turn an even deeper shade of red as mouthed, "Sorry." She waved her hand as if to say, "Don't worry about it."

"So," James began, "now that we're all here, it's time for our first official meeting to begin. I know that Sirius won't have much of a problem making it here every night considering he usually spends every night here anyway, but I can it see it might be an issue for the rest of you. What I propose doing is starting a sort of club with a clear purpose so that your parents will be more inclined to keep letting you come. Does anyone have any suggestions?"

Remus cleared his throat. "Just…er…before we begin this, I should, as Secretary of the Marauders, point out that we have to be sure that this new club stays within the Rules of Marauding. As you know very well, James, the Rules are solid and resolute. They can not and will not be changed for any reason but the death of a member."

"Yes, well, about that…I mean," James said quickly at seeing the looks on the other three boys' faces, "I know the Rules can't be changed—I'm not trying to change anything. I'm just saying that if there's no way we could make Lily a Marauder…"

Peter piped up. "She breaks almost all the Rules! Rule One—no girls allowed!"

"And Lily doesn't have an Animagus or animal form," Remus added. "That's Rule Two."

"Yes but—"

"Don't forget," Sirius tossed in lazily, "that Rule Three states you must have a pranking total of at least fifty per year, whether joint or individual."

"I know that, yes, but see—"

"Rule Four—"

"OKAY! Fine, Lily can't be a Marauder," James conceded. "But I think there should be a way to change some of the Rules we wrote in first year, I mean, 'No girls allowed'? What a load of tosh…"

"Rule Four," Remus pressed on, "None of the above Rules can be changed for any reason by any of the members no matter how silly they seem in the future—"

"But if we change that—"

"—including this rule," he finished firmly.

"Yes, yes, alright, you win," James said dejectedly.

Remus chuckled, though he was the only one. "Go on, then, James. What about this club?"

"Oh, right," James continued. "Well, I thought that we could make up a different club, one that Lily could be in. That way she'll have an excuse too."

"Why doesn't she just make up a club name and tell her parents she's in it?" Sirius exclaimed indignantly. "The Marauders _is _our club! And isn't there some rule that says a Marauder can't be in any other club?"

"Hey!" Lily spoke up. "I _am _right here, you know! No need to get nasty. In case you haven't noticed, Sirius, it wasn't _me _who asked to be a Marauder." She glanced at James. "I mean, I like you guys, but I don't really think I'm Marauder material, if you know what I mean."

"Too true," Remus smiled. "But that's just Sirius. He can be a little insensitive sometimes."

"Hey, I'm not insen--"

"Yeah, mate, you are," James agreed.

Remus suddenly looked uncomfortable. "I hate being the ref!" he muttered to himself. "Though I guess now wouldn't be a very good time to point out that Sirius was right. Rule Five clearly states that a Marauder can not be a member of any other club. Sorry, Lily."

"What did you do, memorize the rule book?" James spat.

"Ahh, but you forget. Who wrote the rules? You, James. You're President. I'm just the lowly secretary who had the misfortune of writing them all down and remembering them."

"That's how you get such good grades? You remember everything you write down?" Sirius asked incredulously.

Remus mimed zipping his lips and throwing away the key.

Peter frantically raised his hand in the air and waved it around.

Sirius looked at him as though he wasn't quite sure what he was seeing. "Uh, Pete," he began slowly, "We're not in school. You don't have to raise your hand."

"Oh!" he squeaked. "James--Well, I just thought that I, you know, might be able to help." He looked doubtful.

"Yeah? And how's that, Pete?" James asked, seeming only partially interested.

"Well, we made Rule Five with the intent" (At this point Remus and James's eyebrows disappeared into their hairlines after hearing Peter use such a big word as "intent") "that it would keep us all from making other friends and drifting apart from each other, right?" Everyone nodded. "Well, I don't see how that rule would apply if we were _all _in the club. Right?" He added uncertainly.

"Pete! You're brilliant!" James hopped up and hugged a very terrified Peter. "I'd like to see you guys get around _that _one!"

James began dancing around the room chanting "I outsmarted Sir-i-us!". Lily giggled. Remus and Peter rolled their eyes at each other.

It was quickly turning into a competition between James and Sirius. Lily and Remus eyed each other warily, seeing the rapid shift in their friends' demeanor. They knew all too well how nasty the two could get in the heat of an argument.

"But it doesn't matter what we _intended _the rule for!" Sirius went on, determined to win. "The fact is what the rule actually _states_!"

"Actually--"

"It's okay, Remus, I got this one!" James said excitedly. "Rule Six—all rules must be used for their intended purpose and cannot be altered to suit any one member of the group. If all members agree to the alteration, see Rule Four."

"Who wrote _that _rule?"

"You did," Remus, Peter, and James said simultaneously. Lily shook her head amusedly.

"You were worried that James would go out of control one day," Remus continued, "and, you knowing him best, we all consented to the rule."

"Well, I was right, wasn't I?" Sirius's voice was rising. "What do you call trying to let Lily into the Marauders and break half the rules in one sitting?"

"Now, wait a minute here, Sirius," Lily began, steamed. "In case you guys have forgotten, I _don't want to be a Marauder._ This conversation shouldn't even be happening!"

"Lily's right, guys," Remus said. "Let's just move on, okay?"

Sirius snorted. "Move on? What, so I can lose? Whose side are you on, Moony?"

Something was wrong and everyone knew it. Sirius may be difficult at times, but neither Remus, Peter, nor Lily had ever seen him act so viciously.

"Er…Sirius…" Lily began, trying not sound accusing. "Is something wrong? It's just that you were…er…fine a few minutes ago and…" He glared at her. "I was just wondering what happened," she finished meekly.

"What happened? What happened?" he repeated hysterically. "I'll tell you what happened! I was going through life, minding my own business and one day Prongsy here suddenly decides--"

At this point, James's eyes got wide and his face turned red. "Oh, no!" he yelled, "You're not going to pin all this on me! It's not my fault! How dare you even begin to--?"

"HA! Not your fault! That's like saying it's not the hinkypunk's fault that his owner drowns!"

James shouted, "I don't care what you—wait, WHAT?"

Peter, Remus, and Lily just stared.

"Okay, so you don't get the analogy!" Sirius snapped. "But you know what I'm saying, Prongs!"

"Of course I do, but--"

"You do?" Remus asked, surprised. "What's going on?"

James stepped toward Sirius. "I know what he's talking about, but it's being taken way out of context!"

"Well, why don't you enlighten us, James," Lily prompted.

"Yeah, that would be nice," Remus agreed.

James looked between them. "There're some things that only a best mate should know, and this is one of them." He rounded on Sirius. "What the bloody hell is going on with you?!! You were fine with everything when I explained it to you!"

"What makes you assume there's something going on with me? What, aren't I easy-going enough for you anymore? Well, let me let you in on a little secret—not everything in life can be treated like a bowl of cherries!"

"Are you kidding?"

"This is precious, coming from you. I love it how you think you can tell me all these things and still have everything stay the same!"

"Well, if that's how you feel—"

James lunged at Sirius with his closed fist preceding him. Sirius ducked behind a chair and Remus grabbed James before he could swing again.

"Rule…number…Seven…" Remus gasped, struggling with James, who was resisting Remus' attempts to restrain him, "prevents…any member…of the Marauders…from doing any…intentional…physical harm…to any…other member," he panted. "Peter…a little help…here."

Peter gave a surprised squeal and scurried over to Remus to help him control James.

"I don't…give a damn…about the rules. …Let…me go!" James pleaded.

"No, James." Remus set his resolve. "Not until you promise not to go after Sirius," he said, as if talking to a five year old.

"Never!" he struggled.

Sirius reemerged from behind the chair, stormed, "I don't need this!" and promptly walked back through the fireplace.

"I'll _kill_ him!" James seethed.

"Yes, but for _what_?" Lily demanded.

"Lily, not the time!" Remus pleaded as James gave a particularly strong wiggle.

"Sorry, Remus."

James suddenly stopped struggling and said "You can let me go now. I'm not going after him."

Relieved, Remus stopped restraining him and stood back. The second James was free, he darted forward and disappeared through the fireplace, after Sirius.

Remus swore and stepped into the hearth. "Lily, you might as well go home. I'll owl you tomorrow if I find something out. I have to go break this up."

"Sure," Lily replied.

After hearing her response, Remus disappeared into the flames. A moment later, his head appeared again and said firmly, "Peter, you aren't off the hook. Come on." Lily blinked and he was gone.

Peter gave one last frightened squeak and followed Remus away.

Disappointed that the evening had not gone at all as well as she had imagined, Lily sulked toward the fireplace to head back home. Deep down, she hoped Remus got to the bottom of whatever was happening, and fast.

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**A/N: Things will get better for Lily eventually, I promise. _Kindly review, thanks much!_**


	3. The Confrontation

**Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, just the situations.**

**A/N: REVISED AND REVAMPED AS OF AUGUST 22, 2007. THANK YOU FOR YOUR PATIENCE!  
**

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"We think he's gay."

Remus, Lily, and Peter were seated around the fire at Remus's house. Lily had just raced over after getting Remus's owl telling her that he and Peter thought they figured out what had caused James to react so rashly to what Sirius was trying to reveal.

"What?" Lily asked incredulously. "You think James is _gay_?"

"Yes!" Remus exclaimed. "What else could it be?"

"What else—what else could it be? There a million other things it could be! What made you settle for 'He's gay'?"

"Well, because of Sirius."

"Wait a minute. This doesn't add up. You decide James is gay because Sirius reacted badly to whatever he told him? Am I missing something?" Lily asked, confused.

"She doesn't know!" Peter squeaked.

"Ah, _yes_ Peter, I realize that." Remus rolled his eyes and turned to Lily. "Sirius had an uncle who was gay. Of course, Sirius didn't _know _his uncle was gay because he was very young at the time. Anyway, on a male's twelfth birthday in all the pureblood families you're let in on all the family secrets. For example, what the family heirlooms are, who's in line to be head of the family, which family members are adopted, or…er…gay. Well, it may not seem so bad to you now, but the adults always have to find rather strange ways of passing on the information, because it is forbidden to speak." At Lily's look of confusion, Remus clarified. "Instead of saying, 'Sirius, the solid silver goblets engraved with the family crest are in the rusty gold trunk,' his grandfather might set out a scavenger hunt with clues for him to follow. And to fully understand the implications, you have to keep in mind how very handsome Sirius was at that age."

"Wait, I'm not following. What does this have to do with Sirius's gay uncle?" Lily asked impatiently.

Remus sighed. "I'm not there yet. On his birthday, his uncle had to find a way to communicate to Sirius that he was gay without saying it straight out. Keeping in mind that Sirius was very handsome…"

"Oh Merlin," Lily said in horror. "He didn't…" she trailed off.

"Oh yes he did. Imagine Sirius's surprise when his favorite uncle suddenly began making advances…" Remus shuddered at the memory. "Poor bloke was never the same. Obviously, the first person Sirius ran to was James, which would explain Sirius's anger. Sirius and James are very close, and if Sirius thought there was any chance that James could come on to him too…I'd guess he'd react exactly the way he did last night."

"That's too bad," said Lily, suddenly suspicious, "but what has that got to do with me?"

Remus cringed. They had gotten to the part he had been dreading. "Well, as you know, James had the biggest crush on you in fifth year." He paused. "Do you remember that last day before summer holidays where the two of you had a row?"

Lily blushed and nodded. She remembered that incident in fine detail. On the train home James wouldn't stop badgering her to go out with him over the summer. She had gotten a bit upset at him and besides saying a few things she really hadn't meant, there had also been several Jelly-Legs Curses and a Bat-Bogey Hex. James had stopped bothering her after that.

"Well ever since that summer, James and Sirius have been acting rather strangely toward each other. It's been odd, like the tension was mounting and Peter and I have just been waiting for them to row for some time now." Remus took a deep breath and his next words rushed out in a whoosh of air.

"We-were-thinking-that-that-was-when-James-decided-if-he-couldn't-have-you-he-wouldn't-have-any-girl-so-he-started-liking-guys."

Remus opened his eyes and assessed the damage. Lily was sitting across from him, chalk white, eyes wide.

"Remus Lupin!" Lily cried, distraught. "You aren't suggesting that _I_ of all people started this! Just for not going out with James?"

"Well, of course, it could be any number of things…" Peter mumbled, sensing trouble.

"Lily! Think about it—"

"No Remus! I didn't _want_ to go out with James. What was I supposed to do, be miserable just so the Marauders could be all hunky-dory?"

"It wasn't your _fault_! It's not like you did it on _purpose_," Remus snapped. "I'm only proposing a theory, and a very probable one at that."

"Probable, huh? Well, you have no proof, Lupin. None at all."

Remus was startled. He'd never heard Lily angrier, or feeling harsh enough to call him by his surname. She had always called him Remus, even when she was feeling particularly venomous at the other Marauders.

"Look, Lily," he said, trying to calm her down. "I'm sorry. It's just a suggestion. Just—please, let's not fight. There's enough of that going around."

Lily sighed. "I suppose you're right, but that doesn't make me any less mad."

"Yes, well, good." Remus began. "Now that that's settled, we have to figure out what we're going to do about it."

Lily, Remus, and Peter thought about it for a while but could come up with only one conclusion: They would have to confront James. None of them really liked this plan, however.

"Are we sure confronting him is the only way?" Lily asked. "I mean, it just seems a bit…I don't know…brash?"

"What else can you think of? I certainly don't have any other ideas. Peter?"

Peter jumped. "Er, as long as it's you two doing the confronting, it's fine by me."

Without further ado, he hopped into the fire and was gone. He seemed to not want any part of their scheming, which was probably smart considering he couldn't fight James _or_ Sirius.

After a moment, Lily said, "Wait," sounding apprehensive. "Well—I—er, do have _one_ thought, but it'd be underhanded and dishonest and he'd probably never speak to us again. It _would_ tell us whether or not he's gay, though. I still have a funny feeling that this whole theory just isn't right. Here's my plan."

And Lily explained to Remus exactly what her plan was.

When she was done, Remus said, "I don't like that. I don't like that at all."

"You think _I_ like it? You have the easy part. It's me who has to think on my feet. Anyway, do you like out-and-out confrontation better?"

He sighed. "You're right, it seems like yours is the safest plan we've got. We'll meet back here at eight 'o clock tonight. I'll—eh—call the others and make sure they're here." He winked at Lily.

Already dreading what the evening had in store, Lily slowly walked to the fireplace and Flooed back home. It would be a long night.

It was five minutes to eight and Lily was ready to get going. She didn't want to be too early because she was dreading waiting alone with James. Lily had no idea how Remus would convince both James and Sirius to be in the same room together peacefully, so she carefully tucked her wand inside her red sweatshirt in case it got ugly. She slowly stepped into the hearth, heart pounding. "Lupin Residence," she whispered urgently and the flames engulfed her and she spun, teeth clenched, through the network of fireplaces. When the spinning finally stopped, Lily found, to her astonishment, that she was still upright and quite uncovered with soot. She tentatively looked up and found Remus grinning at her, standing next to his house-elf, Phinny.

Phinny had been Remus's grandfather's elf but when he died, Remus inherited her along with an old chest of drawers he had always loved. Although Phinny was usually the picture of calm, today she looked rather bedraggled, with dark circles under her eyes and what very little hair she had hanging limply next to her head. As Remus moved forward, she scuttled behind the couch with a barely discernable hiccup.

"What are you afraid of, that the carpet will eat you?" Remus asked as he guided Lily to the couch.

She scowled. "You know darn well that I didn't want to end up on the ground covered in soot. This—stop smiling, Remus!—this is my best sweatshirt and I didn't want it to get ruin—_why are you laughing at me?_"

Remus hastily tried to cover his chuckle, but it was too late. Lily fixed him with a glare that would have done Sirius proud. Recognizing defeat, he sighed. "Marauder prank two-hundred and twenty-nine. It's meant to get the victim dirty and embarrassed and forced to ask their enemy for help." Lily raised her eyebrows. "Only the caster can remove the soot. Sirius dared James to do it to the last person who arrived, and…well…have you ever seen James back down on a dare?"

Lily huffed and took a seat. Eager to get off the subject of her having fallen for a Marauder prank, she asked Remus when the others would get there .

"Er, they uh, well, Wormtail isn't coming—says his head's worth more than the truth, and, er, James says he's going to be late. Something about catching his neighbor's dog…" Remus looked suddenly uncomfortable. "Oh, and, uh, I thought it might be better if we left Sirius out of this—er—no use for a shouting match to get everyone riled up, right? We'll just call him later to apologize."

Lily silently agreed, though said nothing. It seemed to her that Remus was acting uncharacteristically strange, and she could not find a good cause for his behavior. She thought perhaps he was just nervous, as Lily could already feel the butterflies in her stomach awakening.

Remus jumped as though an electric shock ran through him and Lily looked up in alarm. He said quickly, "I'll get us some drinks then, shall I?" and disappeared into the kitchen.

As soon as he left, Phinny tumbled out from behind the couch and said, "Miss Lily must go home! Master is not well! Not well, indeed!"

Lily looked round at the fragile-looking house-elf. "How is he not well, Phinny? Is the full moon near?"

"No, no, the full moon is not 'til next month, but Phinny must not say! Phinny is a good house elf, one who does not betray her master's secrets! But Miss Lily must not stay!"

At that point, they heard footsteps from the kitchen and Phinny, frightened, hurried back behind the couch for cover.

Remus returned carrying a large pitcher of pumpkin juice. He offered some to Lily, but she said, "Remus, what's going on? Are you okay?"

He took a deep breath and sat down. After a few seconds he sad, "Yes, Evans, I'm fine."

_Evans? Since when does he call me by my surname? _Lily thought. Remus seemed to have observed the same thing, because he quickly added, "Trust me Lily. Nothing to worry about."

Lily was still skeptical, but decided not to press it; after all, she could always corner him after they spoke to James, as there was sure to be time then. Anyway, she had always thought Phinny to be rather overexcited about small things, so she couldn't be entirely sure there was anything wrong in the first place.

"So," Remus went on, ignoring her silence. "James. What should we say to him?"

She had been expecting this question ever since they had decided to confront him, but she was no more prepared for it now than she had been when she first began dreading it.

"Er…um…" Now it was her turn to hem and haw. "I suppose we just tell him what you told me. Lay the whole story out in front of him—you might want to jinx him silent, first—it'll reduce the interruptions. Then we'll see what he contradicts and what he thinks of the whole thing. Surely he wouldn't lie at this point?"

"Wouldn't put it past him," said Remus, mussing his hair absentmindedly. Over his shoulder, Lily could see Phinny miming drinking something, then shuddering and standing on her tip-toes, but Lily could not fathom what it meant. She decided to ignore her and let Remus continue. "But I have a charm for truth, not Ministry approved, of course, they're still stuck in their Veritaserum, but it's safe enough. I've used it on Peter loads of times, and he's none the wiser. Anyway, the real problem is how to present it to him without him catching on to quickly. What do you suppose we say first?"

Lily was rather confused. The way Remus had talked earlier it had been perfectly clear what he was saying. Why should they change it at all? She could still see Phinny hopping in the background, but she was making no more sense than she had when she began. Instead of standing on her tiptoes, she would now flatten her ears try to make herself as small as possible after she shuddered. Nonetheless, Lily answered, "Start with Sirius's uncle, I guess. Isn't that what you did this morning?"

"Oh, yeah…yeah, right. His uncle." He seemed disconcerted for a moment, but Lily could have sworn she heard him mutter a "Paul?" under his breath before turning back to her.

"Right, so we'll bring up Sirius's uncle, and start with that. Then…uh…where should we go from there?" He ran his fingers through his hair distractedly again.

Lily thought he was being surprisingly thick for a person who had gotten finished explaining all this to her mere hours ago. However, as his fingers flew to his hair a third time, something clicked. Remus never ran his fingers through his hair. Looking past him, she inconspicuously mimed the habit to the still-dancing house-elf and she stopped her ritual at once to hop up and down encouragingly. Then, she did the same hair grabbing motion with a small shrug after it, plainly asking Lily who else she had ever seen do that. The only person Lily had ever seen exhibit that habit was none other than…

"Where did you say James was?" she asked abruptly. Lily knew, of course, that the Polyjuice Potion was part of the plan, but seeing as James thought he and Remus were tricking _her _into saying what she thought the whole debacle was about, she couldn't let on that she knew what Phinny had been trying to say. Phinny nodded her head in excitement, then scurried off into the kitchen. Remus looked up, slightly pale.

"He—er—promised his neighbor he'd help her catch her dog, I guess. She's about a hundred but she's a Squib, poor thing, so I suppose she's been having trouble with—the—er—discipline aspect of—eh—being a pet owner."

"Right," said Lily, deciding to play along. "So I take it he'll be a while, then?"

"Er," said Remus, still seeming quite as uncomfortable as before, "yes. Yes, I suppose he will."

At this point, Lily got the wickedest idea anyone who wasn't a Marauder had probably ever had. It would be considerable payback for the trouble James was causing them.

She let out a huge sigh of relief and moved over so that she was almost on top of him on the couch. "Thank Merlin. I just can't stand it when we're so near each other and then forced to be apart. Especially when we have to act as though we can stand James, too. Isn't that the worst?"

"W-What d-d-do you m-mean?" Remus stuttered, apparently extremely aware of just how close Lily was.

"It's just really rough, having to pretend we like him _and_ keep from jumping each other at the same time. See what I'm saying?"

"No—er—well, I just mean—why don't you like James?" he asked in a rather strangled voice.

Lily gave him the best bewildered stare she could muster. "The two of us have spent the last year at Hogwarts planning how to get rid of him. Are you sure you're alright, dear? Let me check your fever."

Before Remus could protest, she swooped down and, while climbing on to his right leg, placed a gentle kiss on his forehead. Had he been in any other situation, Remus thought he would have fainted on the spot.

"So, er," said Remus, trying to ignore the fact that Lily had now decided to lay sideways across his lap, "have we been together that long, then? It seems like yesterday that we—er—began plotting against James."

Lily gave a very un-Lilyish giggle. "Why of course. It's been almost a year now. Amazing how time flies when you're having—" she brought her face very close to his, "—fun," she whispered.

Remus very uncomfortably extracted himself from beneath her and made to move over into the armchair. As he crossed the room, the lights dimming strangely, he said, "Lily—darling, er, tell me one thing." He turned back around as he sat down and found, to his horror, Lily trailing a few paces behind him.

She sat down on the arm of his chair and said, "Anything for you, doll."

"Er—yes—well, what makes you—er—like R—me more than, say, James?" he asked innocently.

"Well, my darling Remy," said Lily, trying to buy herself a moment. "You're smarter, and more handsome, and of course straight, which is definitely a plus," she added nonchalantly.

Remus, no longer worried about the distance from Lily he was, said, "Straight? But that would imply that James was…"

Lily gave him another patronizing glance. "We decided that a long time ago, dear. Now, we should have plenty of time before he gets back…" She left her sentence hanging and slid into his lap.

It could have been the shock of finding out that Lily thought he was gay, or sheer rage at the thought that one of his best mates had had a steamy romance with "his" girl, but at that moment, James completely forgot himself and stood up without warning, sending Lily sprawling to the floor.

"BLOODY HELL! WHO'S BRIGHT IDEA WAS THAT!?! I'M NOT _GAY_, EVANS! I LIKE _YOU_! SIRIUS WAS ALL UPSET BECAUSE THE _LAST_ TIME I DATED A GIRL I IGNORED HIM FOR A WHOLE SUMMER, AND I HARDLY LIKED HER AT _ALL_ COMPARED TO YOU! HE DIDN'T WANT ME 'WINNING YOU OVER' SO TO SPEAK, AND THEN LEAVING HIM OUT IN THE DUST! HE'S NOT AFRAID I'LL TURN INTO _PAUL_!"

Lily, having removed herself from the floor, couldn't believe how well the plan had worked. They had gotten James to reveal what had happened under the cover of he and Remus tricking her into telling what _she_ thought had happened.

Suddenly, the lights flicked back on full blast, bathing the both of them in light. Remus and Phinny appeared at the door and sauntered over to stand next to Lily. At that moment, the Polyjuice Potion James had taken an hour ago when Lily arrived began to wear off and he regained he normal appearance. James's mouth was open so far that Lily was sure, had his head been tilted back a quarter of an inch, she would have been able to find the place where his tonsils should have been with ease. He slowly looked back and forth between the two of them and finally said quietly, "Damn, Remus. If I find a recording of that shown at my wedding years from now, I'm going to flay you." He paused. "I'm assuming you two set me up?"

Remus and Lily looked at each other guiltily. Neither of them was eager to say anything, as they were finding James's lack of anger suspicious. Without looking at him, they nodded.

He sighed. "I guess I had it coming," he said moodily. "I just wish Sirius would snap out of it, you know? He can be such a prat."

Remus smiled sympathetically. "I could probably get him over here, if you wanted, and we could force him to listen to reason."

James was determinedly looking anyplace but Lily. "Yeah, that would be good. At least if we do it now I'll have witnesses."

Remus began to move toward the fireplace, but James stopped him with a hand. "Use the one in the drawing room, remember?"

"But," Remus was looking uncomfortable again, "I thought that was only for emergencies?"

"Just go," James said. After he left the room, Phinny at his heels, James finally looked up at Lily. She was gazing at him with confusion written across her face. He added, "Us Marauders created a special go-between for full moon nights during the summer, just in case…" His ominous look said it all.

Lily nodded at James and when he turned away sighed and sat back down on the couch. Although the evening had not gone half as badly as she had dreaded, she was still feeling rather unsettled being alone in a room with the man who had just confessed his love to her, very loudly indeed.

As if sensing her thoughts, James perched on the cushion next to her and said quietly, "I won't do anything, you know." Lily looked up, but he was again refusing to meet her eye. "I-I just want you to be my friend, and I promise I won't put you in any uncomfortable position regarding our relationship. I want you to know that. Stay with us Marauders."

James finally removed his eyes from the vase of flowers he had been concentrating on as he spoke and looked at Lily. She smiled. She was getting rather choked up and did not trust herself to speak, so she simply nodded again instead.

James sighed. "And—uh—one more thing…You aren't _really_ dating Remus, are you?"

Lily, caught unawares by the question, could not stop herself in time from laughing out loud. James, startled by her outburst, nearly fell off the bit of couch he had been perching on. "I'll take that as a 'no,' then," he said, smiling.

Lily was about to reply when there came a commotion from the direction of the drawing room. The next moment, Remus appeared, looking distinctly ruffled and made to sit in the armchair.

James asked, "Did you find him?"

"Didn't have time, mate," he mumbled, leaning on the arm. Before James or Lily could ask him to clarify, Sirius came sprinting in from the next room, looking quite winded, with Phinny bouncing a few steps behind.

When he reached the doorway he stopped to catch his breath. "Ja…James…" he panted, using the door frame to hold himself up, "it was…my dad…he…didn't like…and…Regulus…before…and I…"

James immediately hopped up and helped Sirius over to the couch. Lily obediently slid over to allow room for the two of them to sit. When they were settled she saw, to her horror, a large bloodstain spreading itself across the left side of Sirius's shirt.

"W-What happened, mate?" asked James, trying to keep his voice steady.

"Regulus," he gasped, still trying to catch his breath, "do—do you remember how we suspected him of being a Death Eater?"

James nodded, a hollow pit already forming in his stomach.

"W-Well, Dad found out at dinner tonight w-what we already suspected to be true…he was livid, really he was. I've never s-seen him r-rage like that…I was almost feeling sorry for Regulus, poor bloke…b-b-but after dinner he and Dad went into the parlor to talk…said they needed to d-discuss his punishment…but the n-n-next thing I kn-knew was I heard a big bang and f-f-flash of green light from under the door…went in t-to see if Dad was alright and—and…" Sirius shuddered as though he had been dowsed with cold water. "R-room was a mess…and D-Dad…Dad…he was just _lying_ there, glasses a-a-askew…and Regulus looked at me…n-n-next thing I knew I was lying on the f-floor w-with a suit of a-a-armor attacking me…I was a-able to throw him off but…when Mum h-heard the n-n-noise and she saw me s-s-standing over Dad's body…Regulus had gone by then…she started screaming…awful things…l-l-like I was never allowed in h-her house a-a-again…" He winced at the memory of his mother's words. "S-She had got out her w-w-wand and I j-j-just managed to esc-c-cape when R-Remus saw me c-come through…"

He suddenly stopped speaking and the others could see what a tremendous effort each syllable was taking him. He swayed alarmingly and fell limp onto James.

James quickly said, "Okay, Remus, I want you to go to my house and tell my parents to what happened…My dad is pretty good friends with the Head of the Auror Office, he might be able to get someone on it. Lily, if you could go ahead to the Emergency Medical Ward at St. Mungo's and alert them of the emergency…I don't think it's a good idea for us to move him in this condition, it might cause permanent damage. I'll stay here and make sure his pulse is strong, but Lily, _please hurry_." James looked up and their eyes met for only half a moment, but in that instance Lily could see the love and concern for his friend reflected in James's eyes and it gave Lily new determination to get her job done right.

Remus disappeared through the drawing room at once and was gone within seconds. Lily sped to the living room fireplace and gave a whispered, "St Mungo's." Before the swirling flames obscured her vision, she had one last glimpse of James holding Sirius on the couch, and if it hadn't been an extremely exhausting evening, Lily would have sworn she had saw one single tear fall from the face of James Potter.

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